2016 Preakness Stakes: Odds, Where to Watch and More

by Kevin Roberts
on May 19, 2016

The 2016 Preakness Stakes arrives this Saturday evening, as Nyquist aims to win the second leg of the 2016 Triple Crown. The favorite at the Kentucky Derby just weeks ago, Nyquist won convincingly and now enters the Preakness Stakes as an overwhelming favorite.

All eyes will be on Nyquist and it’s top competition, which is a final field of 11 horses. Let’s get caught up on everything you need to know to enjoy this year’s Preakness Stakes.

Preakness Details

First thing’s first, you’re going to want to know when to watch the 141st Preakness Stakes and all of the main details surrounding the huge race:

Where: Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland

When: Saturday, May 21st

Watch: Live on NBC, coverage starts at 5 pm ET

What: Nyquist tries to go 2-0 in it’s race for a Triple Crown sweep

All 11 horses will be competing on a dirt track and for the moment, the weather is up in the air. If it rains and things turn muddy, bettors may want to prepare for a sloppy and possibly even a slow race.

Preakness Stakes Post Positions

The final post positions were released on Wednesday night, finalizing an 11-horse pool with Nyquist coming out of gate three, Cherry Wine coming out of gate one and Stardivari coming out of gate 11.

champion Nyquist draws post position 3 for the .

— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby)

For all of the other horses and , see below:

Cherry Wine

Uncle Lino

Nyquist

Awesome Speed

Exaggerator

Lani

Collected

Laoban

Abiding Star

Fellowship

Stradivari

Only 11 horses will be running in a race that can host up to 14, so the field is obviously smaller and could make for an easier race for Nyquist. Nyquist is also in a good spot when you look back at recent history, as a single digit PP has won each of the last six races, as well as 12 of the last 14.

Nyquist also is coming out of gate three, which produced a winner as recently as 2014 (California Chrome). It might be worth noting that no post position has produced a repeat winner in the last seven Preakness Stakes runs, however. The last to do so was PP #6, which saw horses emerge victorious in 2013 and 2008.

Based off of history, winning from the far outside could be difficult, which could put Fellowship and Stradivari in a tough spot. It doesn’t necessarily have a huge baring on a smaller pool like this, but as history would have it, just six horses have taken first place in the Preakness Stakes after coming out of a post position of 10th or higher since 1956.

Preakness Stakes Odds

Nyquist comes in as the clear favorite and with Gun Runner and several other solid competitors out for the second leg of the Triple Crown, it’s arguable he could have an easy path to success. Exaggerator still could be a problem, though, and looks to be Nyquist’s main challenger despite losing in each of the four previous races they competed against each other.

Here’s a look at the updated Preakness Stakes odds, per Bovada:

Nyquist (4/7)

Exaggerator (15/4)

Stradivari (8/1)

Collected (16/1)

Cherry Wine (25/1)

Uncle Lino (33/1)

Awesome Speed (33/1)

Lani (40/1)

Laoban (40/1)

Abiding Star (40/1)

Fellowship (40/1)

Nyquist is an undefeated champion and despite running with the pack initially, separated and won the Kentucky Derby fairly convincingly. He was the favorite and pulled it off in that race and with a diluted and smaller field for leg two, he’s understandably the clear favorite again.

While Nyquist does not offer the most return when it comes to betting, he does look like the favorite for good reason and remains the best bet.

Our Pick

Exaggerator is a very good horse and it stands to reason that he’ll eventually catch up to Nyquist, but nothing to this point suggests now is the time for him to do that. Stradivari and Collected are the two big sleepers beyond Exaggerator to consider, although coming out of the 11th pole position could possible be an issue for the inexperienced Stradivari.

We still like Nyquist and while we don’t think a second straight Triple Crown sweep is very likely, we do like Nyquist to become the 28th horse to win both of the first two TC races in the last 50 years.